WHEAT ALLOCATION FOR POULTRY CUT BY 75 PER CENT.

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 February 1948, Page 8

WHEAT ALLOCATION FOR POULTRY CUT BY 75 PER CENT.

A difficult situation that may result in substantial reductions in the numbers of fowls kept on the West Coast, particularly by commercial poultry-farmers, is predicted by Greymouth wholesale merchants who have been advised that only onequarter of the wheat made available last yeai* has been allocated to the district this year. Supplies last year were actually less than the amount required, having been cut from the previous year, and these are reported to be exhausted now, and a further reduction to 25 per cent, for this year will present householders and poultry-farmers alike with a serious problem. The yield from the areas sown in wheat in Canterbury this season is reported to be below the average and with the need to use first-grade wheat for more important purposes, it has been found necessary to cut substantially the allocation for poultry. Stocks of poorer-grade wheat are being sought from Australia by the New Zealand Government and if these efforts are successful the amount shipped to New Zealand-will be allocated to various wholesalers. This amount, however, is not expected to be large and it is unlikely to do much to relieve the situation.

To replace wheat as food for fowls, various grain substitutes have been suggested, but, according to a Grevmouth merchant who has experimented with the use of these—barley especially—the birds refuse to consume them.